As the season approaches, so too does the need to become cap compliant.

The Flames have cap space to spare and money to spend. With the Kipper retirement, the club has about $13M+ available under the $64M cap ceiling, meaning they are positioned to potentially solve a lot of problems.

In April, the org auctioned off Jarome Iginla and Jay Boumweester. Now they can do the same, except this time it's ample cap room that is the prize.

The Flames thinned the herd a bit more today, assigning Corban Knight, Michael Ferland and Max Reinhart to the Abbotsford Heat, as well as Keegan Kanzig to Victoria in the WHL. The interesting name there is Corban Knight, who was tabbed to make the Flames out of college when he was acquired this summer. After watching him for a few games, I agree with the coaching staff that he has some strides to take before he's a legit NHLer. Ferland going down might disappoint some, but just sticking around camp this long is a huge step forward for the big winger. If he can continue his strong play for Abby, Ferland will be an injury call-up sooner rather than later.

I have some general Flames thoughts brewing, but this item seems like it deserves its own article. According to the Windsor Spitfires, Pat Sieloff is turning pro with the Flames organization this year. From their release:

Usually my random thoughts missives feature a number of items, but this one is on just two that have cropped up recently: the value of toughness or "grit" in hockey and whether or not Sean Monahan should spend the year with the Flames.